Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/154

 this river they bathed and played, Creeshna always in the midst of them. At length, in the very height of all their revels and enjoyments, he suddenly disappeared! His principal wives, which were the eight nayega, remained for some time in profound astonishment: then they all burst out into the most passionate exclamations, crying, 'Whither is he gone?' One demanded of the birds if they had seen him, wondering they could sing until he returned. Another asked of the four-footed beasts why they made such loud moanings, as if Creeshna had left and deceived them too. One addressed the sea, 'Thou ocean! who art night and day roaring, hath not Creeshna taken thy fourteen reten, or precious things, also, as well as our hearts, and is it not therefore thou grievest?' Another addressed the moon, 'O thou lord of the stars! why dost not thou draw on the world the veil of darkness? Art thou not affected by his absence? at which every one must be heartless, like us wretched creatures, who know not what is our fault to be thus forgotten and forsaken.' Another spake to the passing clouds, 'Ye, too, are impressed with the colour and figure of Creeshna; and, as he has taken his departure, so ye also are ever on the wing; and ye, like us mourning for his absence, overspread every quarter with gloom.'"

In the chapter entitled Jugunnathu will be found an account of the death of Krishn[)u], and the effect it produced upon the eight nayega and the 16,000 gopīs.

15th.—A heavy flight of locusts passed over Allahabad; some were caught and preserved. Why should I keep a journal? there is nothing to relate in the monotony of an Indian life at home. The weary heavy day, the hot and sleepless night, the excessive heat of the weather, the relaxation of the body, the heaviness of mind, the want of interest in every thing, the necessity of a colder air and colder climate to restring nerves that are suffering from fifteen years' residence in India;—all this I feel most strongly, and must either return to England or go to the hills to recruit my weary frame. There is a great deal of pūja going on in the camp; the Bā'ī wishes me to see the tāmāshashā elsewh.], but I am too unwell for exertion.